Beauty and the Beast (Demon Tales 1) (11 page)

But she is a human…

He turned back to Sam, leaving the
heart-wrenching sight of Cally’s departure behind him. Brigg
snatched up the decanter and filled a fresh glass.

He fell into one of the leather chairs and
proceeded to get shit-faced drunk.

Cally stared out of the small window as the
carriage rolled over the barren countryside. She had been on her
own for the long hours they had been travelling, Torc having chosen
to sit with the driver rather than her. He had sat next to her for
less than five minutes before he swore loudly, climbed the side of
the carriage and disappeared from her sight.

The air was stuffy and Cally found it hard
to breathe. The tight fit of her dress didn’t help matters, either.
She looked down at the blue chiffon and sighed. Her heart clenched.
What she wouldn’t give to just live like a normal person, just to
exist with no knowledge of the royal family and their twisted ways.
What she wouldn’t give to be able to choose whom she married—whom
she would give her body to.

Unbidden, an image of Brigg looming over her
in the library filled her mind. Her whole body pulsed hotly. She
lifted her hand to her mouth and remembered the heavy, demanding
kiss he had given to her. She had never felt wanton, or free. Never
had she felt so alive as she had in Briggs arms. He was strong and
kind, no matter his grumpiness, she knew he was kind. He never had
treated her with anything less than respect…until his brother came
along.

Bitterness surged, and tears prickled her
eyes. She swiped at her hair with irritated fists and bit back the
sound of pain that burned in her throat. So easily she had trusted
him. So easily she had allowed him to be the first person to kiss
her. It all seemed so right. It all seemed so…mutual. But then,
Torc came along and told him that Cally was a witch, and Brigg had
thrown her away like some rubbish. Her heart suddenly felt heavy,
laden with sorrow, and no longer could she hold back the tears.

* * * *

Torc sat on the bench seat at the top of the
carriage. The wind battered at his face, and he tucked his hands
under his armpits to keep them from going any more numb in the
cold. The driver sat swathed in layers and layers of waterproof
clothing, and Torc was seconds away from snatching a blanket from
the smug bastard’s legs. They had been travelling for a few hours,
and the driver said they were not far from Tempath now. Torc
sighed, relief a bright flame inside his chest. He couldn’t believe
they were this close to having their curse lifted.

Amazing.

“Just over there, sir,” the driver drawled
and lifted a wool-covered hand to point ahead. Torc glanced up and
almost choked on a gasp when he saw the splendid castle of Tempath
fill his view. The palace was amazing, like nothing he had seen
before, and Torc had seen some nice castles in his time. The four
pointy turrets reached to the sky. Green and gold flags, attached
to the top of each turret, flapped in the wind. The walls were high
and surrounded by a deep moat. The place was wonderful, perfect—and
utterly full of evil.

Bitterness surged through his blood, and a
new injection of hate pumped inside his mind. No wonder they had so
much splendour when the queen just took what she wanted.

“Fucking humans!” Brigg growled. The driver
gave a nod of agreement and flapped the reigns, urging the horses
on faster.

Torc got up and climbed down the side of the
carriage and dropped through the window. The warmth inside the
small cabin almost burned his skin, such a shock compared to the
bitter cold he’d endured for the last few hours. He dropped onto
the bench opposite Cally and lowered a glare on her. She was
looking out the window, her hair covering the side of her face,
apparently not noticing his entrance. Torc bristled.

“We are nearly there. I can see your
ugly-ass castle on the hill now.”

Her shoulders stiffened but she kept her
head turned away. Torc watched her wondering why his brother had
felt an attraction to her. Sure, she had long, beautiful hair and
pale peaches-and-cream skin. And sure, she had a great body.
But…she was human. Torc couldn’t get past that point, and he
wondered just how the fuck Brigg had. Brigg had hated humans more
than him at one time.

A spark of anger simmered in his gut. He
hated that his brother had been tempted by one such as her. Tricked
and made a fool of, by a human—just like his father.

“I said, we’re nearly there.” He didn’t
leave any of the venom from his tone. He watched her give a simple
nod, her hair dropping further over her face. Torc lunged forward
and got in her face, angered by her non-response. “I don’t want you
to ever go looking for my brother. You hear me, human? Brigg is a
good demon, and I don’t want you fucking with him any more than you
have already.”

She lifted her head then and pinned him with
red-rimmed, hurt-filled eyes. Torc felt a stab of guilt hit his
chest before he smashed that thought and sat back in his chair.

“You hear me, human?” he sneered, hating
that he felt sorry for her. It wasn’t just the sorrow in her stare,
it was her whole demeanour. She looked…broken.

Get a grip, Torc. She is playing you,
just like she played Brigg
.

She swallowed audibly and nodded, her hands
twisting in her lap. A tear fell unchecked down her cheek before
she turned her face towards the window again. “Don’t worry, I won’t
try to find him again.” Her voice was a hoarse whisper, and Torc
flinched at the pain in those words. He frowned as he watched the
princess. She was a fucking good actress. He was starting to see
what Brigg had fallen for, his brother had always been a sucker for
women.

“When we get to the castle, you will bring
your mother to me.”

She looked at him startled. She visibly
blanched and her hands curled into fists. “Why—why my mother?” She
croaked.

Torc raised an eyebrow and watched her for a
moment. The princess looked shaken… afraid?

“I would ask her to lift our curse, in
exchange for you.” He stated. Cally looked shocked a moment before
she shook her head and leaned forward.

“My mother won’t offer a reward for me.” She
gave a humourless laugh.

Torc crossed his arms and glared at Cally.
“Your own mother will not offer a reward for you?” he asked, not
holding back the sound of disbelief from his voice. He narrowed his
gaze. “You lie.”

Cally just shook her head. She opened her
mouth and Torc was impatient to hear her words when the driver
shouted something down to him. He watched the princess for a second
more, then climbed out the window and up to the driver’s seat. He
felt oddly unsettled by his conversation with the princess. Oddly
stirred by her very clever ‘innocent’ ruse, and it angered him that
he felt guilt. She was one shrewd witch…but why was she still
tricking them, when he had gotten her back to her castle? Wasn’t
this where she wanted to be? Torc frowned and wondered why the
princess was even bothering to lie anymore. Surely she had gotten
what she wanted—a safe journey home.

He was just about to climb back into the
carriage and question her some more when a castle knight rode up on
his horse and halted their entrance to Tempath.

“Who are you?” the knight roared from within
his silver helmet. Torc sat taller and tried to school his
expression into one that didn’t resemble disgust.
Fucking humans
and their armour. Do some training, get some muscles and you
wouldn’t need it—pricks.
Torc allowed his words of hate to
filter through his mind, but he kept his mouth closed against
anything that might get his arse banged into the dungeons. Been
there, done that.

“I am Torc, of Raintree. I have the missing
princess.”

Cally’s stomach lurched violently as the
carriage came to a stop. Fright had her sitting stiff as her mind
screamed in protest at being back behind the castle walls. The sun
seemed to have disappeared the moment the gates had closed. All the
warmth had seeped from her body, leaving Cally rigid with fear. Her
time was up. She chastized herself inwardly for not trying to
escape the carriage before it had arrived—but she knew that Torc
would have dragged her back kicking and screaming. The demon hated
her, he hid none of his disgust from her. Cally was afraid to try
anything like escape where he was concerned.

And because of her cowardice, she was back
in Tempath.
Just great.

The wooden door of the carriage flew open
and Cally turned her head to see one of her mother’s knight’s,
covered from head to toe in metal. He stood back, gave a low bow
and Cally forced herself to move. The air was crisp, but through
her heated skin she didn’t feel the cold. Her hands shook as she
gripped the handle.
Don’t throw up. Don’t throw up,
she
chanted in her head, desperate to hold onto her dignity for as long
as possible. She knew that the moment her mother had her in her
clutches, all dignity—along with her beloved, newly-growing horns
would be gone. She fought the urge to touch them, not wanting to
draw anyone’s eye.

Cally lifted her head and caught the angry,
nose-flared glare from Torc. He was looking her way, clearly with
hate in mind. She swallowed and placed both feet on to the red
carpet laid out on the castle steps. Her head spun, and breath
stalled in her lungs. She had never felt more like a coward than at
this moment. What was going to happen to her now? She lifted her
gaze and saw her mother standing at the top of the stone steps with
a cruel smile on her nasty face.

Cally had no friends, no allies. Any member
of staff who had shown sympathy for her over the years had found
themselves jobless—or worse. She was alone, in a world of evil. And
she had never felt so helpless, so utterly terrified. Damn Brigg
and his gentle touches and kind words, damn him for softening her
shell. She had learned through Brigg that not everyone was evil,
and because of him she had become weak. Why did he have to hurt her
too?

“Callindra. The prodigal daughter arrives!”
Her mother laughed openly, with her head thrown back. Her eyes
glittered with suppressed rage. Cally tasted bile. “Who has been a
bad girl?” Her mother called from the top of the steps, a sneer
framing her lips as she eyed Cally with clear contempt. The king
stood to her left and a little behind her. The man wasn’t Cally’s
father. He was human, like her mother. He knew what Cally was—not
his—and therefore he held no love for her. “Come on, dear. Mummy
wants to have a word with you,” her mother called, with a fake
smile on her face that only meant one thing to Cally—violence.
Chills raced down Cally’s arms. Her mother looked like the cat that
got into the cream, and that thought froze Cally’s blood.

Cally took a shaky step forward. A strong
hand came down on her arm and Cally looked up, startled. Torc
stared down at her, a deep frown on his face as he led her up the
stairs, closer to the queen.

Cally stopped and Torc tugged her a little.
He gave an impatient glare.

“Tell Brigg…Tell Brigg, thank you,” she
stuttered in a low whisper. Tears burned her eyes as she fought to
keep control. Torc flared his nostrils but gave a jerky nod. Cally
went to take another step, but Torc held her still, his dark eyes
boring into her, much as his brother’s once had. Cally stared up.
His eyes were a little lighter than Brigg’s, but no less kind.
Cally understood that Torc just was looking out for his brother.
She liked him for that. “Tell Brigg that I never tricked him. It
was all real.” She sniffed back surging tears and fought to
breathe. “At least, it was for me.” Her throat constricted and her
lungs heaved.

“What’s going on here, Princess?” Torc
looked up the stairs to the queen and around the whole palace.
Knights stood in place up the stone steps. Flags flew in the wind,
but there was no sound, no excitement that the princess was
home.

She could have told him there wouldn’t be.
She could have told him that she was unwanted and unloved. The
people of Tempath viewed her as stupid. They assumed she was
lacking in some way, because the queen had kept her from sight. She
had never been shown off as her brother had been. She had been
treated with cruelty and scorn, and the people of Tempath had
followed the queen’s example, assuming Cally to be lacking. No one
loved her here.

She was just a pawn in her mother’s
continuous need for more—of everything. Her mother had her eyes on
a castle in the human realms, and the poor, unsuspecting Prince was
going to be married to Cally—a half demoness—so that her mother
could eventually take his throne. The day the human prince realized
he was actually married to a demon was not a day Cally looked
forward to. She knew what humans did to demons, she had experienced
the cruelty many a time. Her horns ached as if pained by their
imminent removal.

“Bring her to me, demon!” her mother yelled
from the top of the stairs. Her cackling voice broke into Cally’s
thoughts. The knights all twitched nervously, but Torc held fast to
Cally’s arm.

He flicked an uneasy frown down to her.
“This doesn’t seem like the welcome I expected you to have, Cally.”
Torc said quietly. He was tense at her side, his hand gripping her
in a firm hold.

“I told you,” Cally snapped, feeling all her
fear climb higher. Emotions burned her throat and raced in her
heart.
Lamb to the slaughter.
“I never wanted to be brought
back here.”

“Guards, collect her!” her mother barked
impatiently. Three knights lunged forward. Cally stayed still,
knowing it was futile to fight their advance, though her insides
burned with the need to run.

Torc clearly didn’t agree. He leapt forward
and blocked the knights’ approach with his massive body. Cally
gasped when she remembered Brigg in the exact same stance when he
had defended her from Helki. Her heart throbbed wildly and she felt
weak from the onslaught of his loss.